


The house of Ma Kent

by cockabeetle, Kymopoleia



Category: DCU
Genre: Kon is worried, Kon knows his place, M/M, Ma is the head of the house, No questions asked, Thad is probably abused, Tim is a snarky bitch, and don't finish them, kym and i start too many things, who knows - Freeform, will we continue this one?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 03:03:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3472010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kymopoleia/pseuds/Kymopoleia





	The house of Ma Kent

Thaddeus Thawne was heading for the Luthorcorp tower in Metropolis for a meeting his father had planned when something strange happens. He manages to trip on a beam of wood he hadn't seen, and the sharp impact of his face against the soft dirt knocks him unconscious.

Kon, hearing what sounded like Bart fall and hurt himself just outside Smallville, flies over as quickly as he can. The kid he finds isn't exactly Bart, but he's close and Ma would wanna make sure he's okay anyway.

Thad was vaguely aware of some sensations beyond his dreamless non-slumber, like strong logs beneath him and something warm next to his head, as well as a softness beneath him and a light pressure of something cool and small on his forehead, before the smell of blackberry fills his nostrils. He comes to slowly, attempting to figure out as much of his surroundings as possible. He's wearing light, loose bottoms, probably slacks, and a sweater. Part of him tries to figure out why he'd wear something like that in the middle of summertime. When he finally opens his eyes, he's confused and tired.

Kon has a plate and fork in hand, smiling brightly at the speedster who just came to. "Hi! Ma made you pie. Well, she already made it before, but she cut this slice for you specifically. You're not allergic to blackberry, are you? We've got cherry in the freezer, and blueberry's in the oven..."

Thad stares at him for a minute or two, eyes narrowing in confusion. He sits up straight slowly, and pats himself down until he finds his glasses. He looks back at the guy holding out the plate. "What is this?" He asks.

Kon blinks, and glances at the plate. "Pie...?"

"No, not *that*," he gestures around. "This. Where am I? What kind of test is this? What's going on?"

"Test? Uh, no test. This is Ma's farm, in Smallville? I'm Conner." He props the fork on the plate, offering a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Thad looks the hand over, and shakes his head as he slowly shakes it. "Thad. What do you mean, Smallville? Is that a real place?"

Kon tilts his head. "Uh, yeah, it's a real place. We're here, I mean. You tripped just outside of town, I was in the area and I knew Ma'd want to make sure you were okay, so I brought you over. You're not allergic to Blackberry, right?" He offers the plate, a little confused.

"No, but I hate pie. It's too sweet." He shakes his head at the plate.

Kon makes an insulted noise, frowning. "What? Dude, it's pie. It's *Ma's* pie, you don't turn down pie, man."

"But I don't like sweet things, and I've never even met the 'Ma'." He raises his hands to make quotation marks around her title. He's still confused as to what the aim of the test is. Does he listen to an unknown, and possibly take poisoned food that he does not even like, or does he stick to his principles and escape? He's confused.

Kon sighs. "Just trust me, dude, take the pie, it's safer than letting Ma hear you wasted it. I'm not allowed to eat it, she'd know." Kon whispers, and offers the food again.

Thad sighs back and reaches for the plate, hand beginning to shake slightly. He can't remember when he last ate.

Kon sits down next to him, and tilts his head, glasses falling down his face a little. "So. Where were you headed, since it clearly wasn't Smallville?"

He thinks for a minute, looking at the plate in his shaking hand before he steadies the plate by adding another hand to support it. "I think I was heading to Metropolis, I had a meeting with..." He remembers suddenly, and he drops the plate, standing in the same fluid movement. "No!"

Kon manages to catch the plate, and gently push Thad back down into the couch with his TTK. "Woah, dude! Chill, what's up?"

Thad tries to stand again, starting to panic at the idea of being late. "I'm late, oh my g- I'm missing it, Father, he'll kill me, I have to go, I need to- oh god," he groans, knowing that it's all his fault and that he's needed to do this, to get the upgrade and to kill Impulse. He knows he isn't the only option his father has, and he's not the best by a long shot. He is replaceable. And terrified, but he's replaceable before anything else.

Kon reaches out to steady him, worried now. "H-hey, calm down. You're fine, nobody's killing anyone. You're fine, and Ma and I can explain things to your dad if we need to, okay? Calm down." Kon eases up on the TTK, gently patting the speedster on the arm to try and calm him down.

Thad turned his attention to the other, Conner. "My dad doesn't listen to anyone, it's not going to be okay." He sinks back into the couch. "I'm dead. Dead man walking."

Kon frowns. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He pats Thad's shoulder. "You'e going to be fine. Eat your pie, and stay calm. I'll talk to him, what's his name?"

"Thaddeus Thawne." He replied, before realizing that he needed to find some reason to deflect the country boy. His father wasn't even quite born yet. "But he can't take calls, he's not going to answer. Sorry." He quickly adds a small, fake smile at the end. "Just let me deal with him, I always have."

Kon frowns. "Never heard of him. And I used to live in Metropolis." He tilts his head. "Are you sure I can't help?"

"The only one who can," Thad laughs humorlessly. "Doesn't want to, and doesn't understand what's at stake."

"Who's that? Maybe I can talk to 'em." Kon blinks at him, pouting. He ends up pulling the glasses off, because they're bothering him. He cleans the lenses.

"You don't know him, he's not going to listen to anyone." He shifts so he's sitting with his back to the couch arm, and slowly reclaims the pie with still-shaking hands. He cuts a piece from the end, and eats it.

Kon sighs, and puts the glasses down. "Are you sure? I just might. Tell me his name, if I don't there's nothing more for you to lose, right?"

Thad tenses for two reasons. On one hand, he's considering actually telling this country boy about Impulse. On the other, he's suppressing a moan at the flavors in his mouth what the hell?

Kon glances up, and grins. "Ma's pie is great, isn't it? Best food in Kansas."

Thad closes his eyes and swallows carefully, trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong with the tiny taste of heaven he'd just eaten. He can't think of anything.

Kon giggles, and can't suppress the shit-eating grin. "Man, I haven't seen somebody react to Ma's cooking like that in months. Bart made that same face first time he had Rhubarb!"

Thad flinched at the name Bart, instantly reminded of his problems and how he'd failed thus far.

Kon frowns. "Hey, what's wrong? Something I said?" He puts the glasses down, leaning over a little, worried.

Thad slowly opens his eyes. "Yes, no..., yes. I don't want to.. Talk about it."

Kon blinks. "Uh, okay. So you sure I can't do anything to help? I mean, it's really the least I can do, plus until we're sure you're fine Ma said I don't have to do any chores 'round the farm, so."

"You're a farm boy too?" Thad asks before he can stop himself.

"What'd'ya mean? 'course. I didn't exactly grow up on the farm, but I work here for Ma since S- er, Clark made me."

"Nothing, I'd just been calling you 'country boy' in my head. It's not important." Thad waves his hand dismissively and feels the barest beginnings of a blush rise.

Kon laughs. "Not the worst thing I've been called. It's better than cowboy." He grins. "So, are you super, extremely, completely sure I can't help in any way? Dude, I'm practically begging here, I have to clean the chicken coop when this is over."

"It's not something I think I can explain correctly." Thad sighs. "If I could, I'd try."

"You'd be surprised what I'd understand, dude. C'mon, lay it on me. I bet it's not the weirdest thing."

"I'm sure it's the weirdest thing. Where do I even start?" He balances the plate on his lap.

"I could tell you my history, as a reference. Let's see if we can out-weird each other."

"Fine, I guess." Thad takes another bite of the pie and waits.

"I'm the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, and am currently 3 years old."

Thad chokes on his pie.

Kon grins. "My real name's Kon-el, but I say Conner Kent for obvious reasons."

Thad coughs, covering his mouth with his hand. "Now I can't finish my story, but you're not going to believe this, okay? This is insane." He coughed one last time. "What are the odds that we're both clones of Superman and Lex Luthor?"

Kon laughs. "Unlikely, considering you're not Kryptonian. You're a speedster though, I can tell. You're really good at going human speed, congrats."

Thad rolls his eyes. "Fine, I am actually a clone though. From the Flash's grandson, Impulse."

Kon nods. "I kinda figured. I heard you trip from the other side of town too. I'm kinda surprised you didn't cry out or anything."

"Didn't have time. One moment I was heading for Luthorcorp tower, the next I was face down in the dirt and unconscious."

Kon nods. "Well, you're good, now. So. You sure Superboy himself can't help you out at all?"

"I don't think so." Thad shakes his head. "It's not exactly a task that's up to par with the League's morals. But my father wants me to, and as such, I have to. It's the only reason I'm here."

"But, clone to clone, do you really want to? I mean, is it really required? If your dad couldn't get to you, and you could do whatever you wanted?"

Thad thought for a moment. "I don't know. What would I even do with myself? Everything has been set up so that the only option is one of us killing the other." He goes for another bite of pie.

Kon wrinkles his nose. "Well, that doesn't sound very nice. And don't you think you should have a choice? Is there anything you like to do?"

"Not really?" Thad shrugs. "All I do is run and practice and prepare for the end game. And deal with Dad's punishments. That's actually more common than training."

"Dude. Not cool. My dads aren't the best but dude. Okay, we need to find out if you like doing things. I dunno, do you wanna try stuff? Reading? Drawing? We could do chores?"

"I like reading." Thad nods.

"Cool. We don't have much here, but Clark had a few books, you wanna try 'em? Or the internet, I just got the WI-FI to work."

Thad nodded. "That sounds fine. I've usually only read things pertaining to the end game."

"Okay. C'mon, let's go see if we got anything you'd like. There's a bit of fantasy, and some journalism crap."

Thad nodded, looking at the barely-touched pie, before setting it aside and standing.

Kon grabs his arm, leading him upstairs and into his room. There're a few burns on the walls and above the bed. The bookshelf has two rows of books. One is fantasy books and the other is all workbooks.

Thad goes for the workbooks, but quickly decides that no, he isn't actually about them. Then he looks through the fantasy books, and picks the least offensive one.

Kon grins, and grabs one about Princesses.

The one Thad had chosen had fairies and some kind of war game as the main point. And, the main couple were a pair of female fairies.

Kon had grabbed his favorite. Its the one about a prince who was born a princess, but didn't want to be a princess. He wore pants and got dirty and refused to wear girly clothes. And Kon digged that.

Thad looked around the room for somewhere to sit, but isn't sure where a good spot is.

Kon flops down on his bed, legs tucked up underneath him. "Sit wherever you want. There a chair tucked into the desk, there, or you could sit on the bed with me."

Thad, after a very long moment, carefully sits on the edge of the bed, towards the end.

Kon was situated in the middle, leaning back across the width with the book propped up in front of his face. "Tell me if you like it?"

"I will." Thad replies, opening it and reading the introduction, where Thesca and Meyre are having a discussion about the coming war games.

Kon begins reading, too. Prince Harry, or 'Harriette' as his parents insisted on calling him, was showing off his snazzy new blazer and slacks combo. Wow, Kon forgot how great this book is.

Thad finds himself beginning to care as some of Thesca and Meyre's close friends are injured in the games, and feels a spark of fear when their closest equal actually perishes. He had shifted closer to the middle of the bed, back still resting against the footboard and neck bent to continue the story.

Prince Harry has managed to make friends with the Prince that came to visit, even if their parents didn't exactly want them to. 'Friends' isn't what they had planned, at least. But Harry's having a grand old time. Kon has flipped himself over, so he's on his stomach, and shoots a grin at Thad as he reads.

Thad doesn't catch the grin, too immersed in the haughty romance and gruesome battle that the two fairies were caught in.

Kon chuckles a little, and keeps reading. Harry and the other Prince, Daniel, have become fast friends, and have even convinced their parents to stop pushing for something else. Daniel even managed to get them to allow Harry to come back to his own country for a visit.

When Thad reaches the point, closer to the end of the novel than the middle, where the leader of the orchestrators was murdered, he pauses at a rooster's crow. It wasn't the first, and it wasn't morning time, but still.

Kon has nearly finished the book, Harry and Daniel, who are now Kings in their own right and even though Dan isn't interested in Romance at all and Harry couldn't decide what he liked, they managed to find what they wanted in life; Peace and acceptance. There's a reason Kon's always liked this book.

Thad resumes the book, and tenses when Meyre intercepts a fatal blow meant for another friend, whom he knew from other parts of the book was, in fact, the only reason the pair had been forced into the games in the first place.

Once Kon finishes the book, he closes it and rolls back onto his back, sighing a little. He ends up playing with his TTK, waiting for Thad to finish and give his verdict.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, the Fae Queen threatening Thesca with her love's life and the possibility of their future together. Thad looks at Kon, eyes wide. "What?"

Kon glances over, lazily playing catch with the book and his TTK. "Huh? What is it?"

"Is there a continuation of this book?" Thad set it on the bed in front of Kon.

Kon reads the title, and thinks a second before using his TTK to pull another from the shelf. "I think it's this one? Clark has 3 by the same author, I'm never sure which order is which."

Thad grabs it, and furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "This is a prequel...?" He says slowly, glancing back at Kon.

"Oops. There's another one, where did I... Oh!" He pulls another book, this one tucked at the top of the bookshelf, out of reach of anyone who can't fly or use TTK.

Thad grabs it and nods. "Sequel. Thank you."

Kon grins. "I kinda forgot about the series to be honest, it's more Tim's tastes than mine."

Thad nodded, though he didn't know a Tim. He'd never interacted with any of Impulse's colleagues, always preferring to attack when he was alone. So, the names and faces are new.

Kon grins a little. "He's gonna be pissed when he goes over the security footage, later. Secret Identities are so important to Bats, ya know?"

"I don't, actually. I don't interact with them. Am I lucky for it?" He raises an eyebrow before giving in and pulling the sweater off, revealing the plain green shirt underneath.

Kon laughs. "Yeah, you're lucky. They're kinda terrifying, when they try. And they all have a secret stash of Kryptonite just freak me and Clark out, I swear."

"Kryptonite... Father's always left that for Luthor. He's a fan of it, and of attempting to kill Superman. Or something else, they've known each other since high school and used to be friends." He shrugs.

"I know. I'm his clone too, ya know." Kon stuck his tongue out. "Lex at least has the courtesy to keep it in the open and only use the green stuff."

"The other colors aren't too fun to deal with. I heard the pink one was the worst, honestly."

"Yeah. Plus, they affect Clark differently than they do me, since I'm half human. The concentration and everything means the reaction'll change. Sometimes I hate the stuff."

Thad nods, moving the balled up sweater behind the small of his back. "Understandably."

Kon sighs. "Well, enough talk about that. You're enjoying the book, right? Wanna try anything else? You can borrow them as long as you like, I don't mind."

"And if we never meet again?" Thad asks.

"Oh, now that's unlikely. If you cough I could hear you from Jupiter."

Thad snorts. "I don't cough. Getting sick isn't a thing for me, never has been. I'm from the future, Conner."

"I know, and call me Kon. It's the principal of the thing, if you ever need my help just like, fake-cough. You know, *ahem*" He mimes coughing, rolling his eyes. "I'll get there fast as I can. You're cool."

Thad rolled his eyes. "Sure. I don't see what situation I'd need to call you in, the time I'm ever in any danger is when I'm battling Impulse. And I don't think you can exactly keep up." He looks Conner, no, Kon, up and down.

"I can go pretty fast. And I've raced Bart around the planet a few times, c'mon, give a guy some credit."

"Are you fast enough to separate two speedsters locked in a battle to the death?"

"TTK, dude. I could pick you both up and dangle you by your ankles if I needed to."

Thad considered it. "And if we turned on you, by some chance?"

"I'm nigh invulnerable to everything but Kryptonite, Magic and High Voltage. Since I know neither of you have any Kryptonite hidden on your person ever, and neither of you does magic, what risk to myself is there?"

"Friction can cause high voltage electricity." Thad says simply.

"None high enough to work on me. I'm talking in the high thousands here, dude, something like a lightning strike or a power grid."

"That is..." Thad sighed. "Excessive."

Kon laughed. "Well, yeah. Though from what Nightwing said the power grid could kill me."

"That, atleast, sounds reasonable." Thad nods.

"I've never been hit by lightning, but Clark got knocked out by it once. It was kinda terrifying, you would not believe how heavy he is when hes falling and on fire"

Thad chuckled at the thought of Superman getting hit by lightning. "Wow."

Kon nods, grinning. "It's pretty funny, now, but not gonna lie, I nearly shat my pants when it happened." Kon ends up pulling another book out of the shelf with his TTK.

Thad nodded. "Do you have any book recommendations?"

"You could read 'bout Prince Harry, he's my favorite." He offers the book, and flips the other open. "There's also a couple series, Harry Potter's pretty cool, though the movies aren't exactly perfect."

Thad considered Kon's favorite and accepted it. "Alright. How should I return them, when I've finished?"

"Call me? Drop 'em off here? You could give 'em to Imp if you want, he'd know what to do with 'em." He taps his chin. "He might ruin them though, so I wouldn't recommend that one."

"I trust him with nothing." Thad replied. "But I suppose I could find some way."

"Whatever you can think of dude. And if you ever want pie, or to try some of Ma's other cooking, the door's always open." He grins.

Thad smiles back, but something is bothering him. Where is the catch, the price of the offer? Warnings? He waits for the shoes to drop.

Kon stretches out, yawning like a cat. "If you're heading out, I'd stop and tell Ma. She's got a bit of a temper, ya know?"

"Isn't there something else? Where is the 'and in case of', where is the part where you give consequences for whatever action?" He'd been in the home several hours, and been given, well, a taste of what they had to offer. Where was the rest?

"Well, if you wanna stay here like, full time you gotta help with chores, but Ma probably won't make you for the first month or so. And you're a guest? No consequences for visiting, dude."

Thad ran the words through his head. No consequences? "No punishments?"

Kon tilts his head. "Uh, not 'less you do something punishable? If you do something that requires a punishment you'll be warned beforehand, I mean." Kon's eyebrows scrunch together, he looks like a confused puppy. "Why?"

"I mentioned earlier, my time was spent more often being punished for my failings than preparing for the end game." He shrugs.

"Well, you've done nothing wrong here. Ma'll tell you any punishments she has for you, when she has to use them. We don't really do that here, it was a little weird for me when I first moved here, to be honest."

"And as long as I am here, I'm under her rules and leadership?" Thad clarifies.

"Yeah." Kon stretches again. "You don't have super hearing like Clark and me, so it'd just apply to being in the area, I guess."

"Within the property? The city?" Thad asks. "Is there a legal document drafted up that would cement this, make it impossible for anyone to override?" He's hopeful.

"Uh, if they want to try and override Ma Kent's authority, they can try. Ma'll beat them down." He stretches out. "Tim could write a pretty airtight document for it if we asked, I guess."

"If you'd please ask." Thad nodded, hand moving to rest on the book he'd read. He'd be taking it with him, he needed to reread it.

Kon sighs, and gets up to grab his phone, dialing a number. "Hey Rob- Oh good, you were listening. Can you do the thing for me?"

Thad listened absentmindedly to the conversation, thinking about his father and Luthor and the meeting he had missed. He'd have to leave this place soon.

It takes five minutes for Tim to get the information he needs, and Kon hangs up once he's done. "Kay, Tim'll have it written up and sent to the house within the next 20 minutes. Want anything to drink?"

Thad nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"We got Zesti, a couple different kinda of pop, and milk. Just milked the cows this morning, plus we got water, but that stuff's boring."

"Is it alright if I just have water, for now?" Thad asked.

"Sure thing, dude. Want anything to eat? We got biscuits, and the blueberry pie just finished cooling down."

"I never did finish the first slice..." Thad says, then stands as well.

Kon grins. "Blackberry's great, but my favorite's Blueberry. Clark likes apple, but honestly, he's just fitting a stereotype."

"I can try blueberry, if the blackberry isn't too much." He shrugs.

Kon just grins. "Great. C'mon, time's a-wasting." He may or may not float down the stairs. They squeak, sue him.

Thad speeds down them, feet barely touching the wood. He flashes a smile at Kon.

Kon grins, and grabs a plate, slicing off a piece of Blueberry and pulling the fridge open to grab the blackberry.

Thad grabs the blackberry as soon as it is presented, and he uses his finger to wipe up some filling and suck on it as he waits for a fork.

Kon grabs two forks, handing one to Thad. "Water's in the fridge, didn't you want some?"

He nodded, taking a bite of the pie. It tasted better this time.

Kon grins, grabbing a bottle of water, and a glass of milk.

Thad takes the bottle of water and another bite of the pie.

Kon eats a few bites of pie, sitting down in the kitchen to enjoy it. He drains half the milk in one go, thinking about making coffee, it'd help with cleaning the coop, later.

After another couple of bites and a few sips of water, Thad rests the end of his fork on his plate. "If you were designed by Luthor to replace Superman, how come you're out and about and not in his direct care? He normally doesn't let others do tasks involving Superman."

"I broke out, before I was finished. They were gonna upload programming to control me once they'd aged me to adulthood."

Thad frowned. "I'm glad you got out before then."

"Me too, dude. I don't exactly like Clark all the time, but I also don't wanna be him. He's... Perfect, almost. I can't measure up, and now I don't have to."

"You're lucky. I think the goal after I kill Impulse to become him, and I'm nothing like him. I don't know him." Thad takes another sip of water.

"Imp doesn't really know you, either. But I think he wants to. You're a pretty cool guy, honestly."

"How would knowing him benefit me?" Thad asked, confused. "The outcome cannot include us both, one of us will die during endgame, or if I fail, afterwards. Then some other clone- of which I am assured there are plenty- will replace me and do a better job and get five percent more training time."

Kon frowns. "He wants to know you as a person. Cause you are one, like I am. And I know he doesn't want to kill you. So the only one whose trying to go toward that goal of yours is you, and you don't seem to want it."

"I don't. It's tedious. We're literally equally matched but opposite in every way. Every time I get a leg up, he's laughing and dragging me three steps back. He's infuriating and loud and red and he doesn't care about- I don't know. Anything. He's carefree. But even though I don't want to do this, I don't have a choice. I never have. Father's opinion of a choice is the endgame or being replaced. And he doesn't have a retirement plan set up in case of the latter."

Kon frowns. "If I'm right, your dad hasn't been born yet, right? How do you contact him? For what reason other than the threat of punishment do you listen to him? Cause I'm more than willing to bet Imp and I can find holes in it. Tim could do twice as well in a quarter of the time. Do you want help?"

Thad immediately replied "No" without thinking, just at the mere thought of Impulse helping him, then he shook his head. "Sorry, not Impulse."

Kon nods. "But Tim and me? Can we help?"

"If you really want to, think it would help in the long run. At all." Thad picked up a few more forkfuls of pie.

"Least I- we can do. If it works, we gain a friend, too. Er, if you want..."

"Possibly. I haven't met this Tim yet. And as for Impulse, I'm not sure if I could ever be his friend. Too much has happened between me and him."

Kon nods. "We can try? If It doesn't work, it doesn't work. But we can try. And I think you'd like Tim. He's... Tim. Hard not to like."

"Hard to find fault with your words of praise." Thad joked.

Kon laughs. "Don't get me wrong, he's annoying, geeky, creepy, oddly silent yet capable of talking your ear off... But he's also... Sorta fragile, makes ya wanna protect him, for all his training and capability. He's human, and... Yeah."

"Human?" Thad nods. "Alright. There aren't too many of those in our line of work. Well, your line of work. In mine there are plenty."

"Robin." Kon grins a little. "The current one. He's teeny, compared to the others, its kinda cute."

Thad smiled into another bite, and when he went for another he realized the pie was almost completed. "Huh. I don't know much about Robins. Weren't there..." He paused to count on his fingers. "Six? Seven? Did the second female count?"

"There's been five. Nightwing, Red Hood, that redhead, Timmers, His girlfriend, and Tim again."

"No, there's another two." Thad replied. "The demon son and the black kid."

"Who?"

"Um, Damian Al Ghul and the black kid. I forgot his name, there aren't many records of him. But Al Ghul, he was the first Batman's son. He dies at the hands of his clone and gets powers like Superman when he comes back to life." It dawns on him as soon as he finishes that he's a few years off from that being common knowledge. Or true.

Kon stares at him blankly.

Thad curses. "This is why I only interact with my Father, his colleagues, and Impulse. You didn't hear that."

"Oh. Future shit. Got it."

Thad nods. "I'm curious to see for myself how you interact with him, after he gets his powers. Do you have all of Superman's powers?"

Kon shakes his head. "Nope. I've got heat vision, slightly above human strength, super hearing and maybe X-Ray vision? I think that's it. Plus TTK is something only I can do, Clark doesn't have it."

Thad nods. "Well, imagine someone raised by the League of Assassins, with access to the Wayne Fortune and the entirety of Batman's sources, bearing Robin's name and childlike carelessness."

"He sounds like a pain in the ass. Tim's gonna hate him."

"Now imagine him dying, becoming more reckless after being brought back to life due to him not being fully aware of the gravity of the situation, and all of Superman's powers."

"I would be insulted."

Thad nodded. "Now imagine him with little care for authority figures and less respect for the Robins who held the mantle before him, especially Tim Drake. The exception was Jason Todd because of Jason Todd's demeanor, which was ironic in retrospect."

Kon snorts. "I'd probably want to beat the kid. Or get Clark to do it."

"Luckily for him, you're not around when he first shows up. From what I've heard, it was unlucky for Tim and arguably the one of the lowest points in his life."

"Poor Timmers. Hope he's taking notes."

Thad nods, taking another sip of water. "But then his life got worse and bad things happened that he blamed himself for even though it was, in actuality, not his fault in the slightest."

"Which he?" Kon asks, mostly because he knows Tim would want clarification.

"Tim Drake. Everyone around him has at some point been pronounced dead, and though it's not his fault at all, he tortured himself about it for years."

Kon winces. "Yeesh." Kon glances at the hidden camera just outside, in the swallows' nest. "So I'm probably gonna die soon, too? Well. Can't say it surprises me."

"I didn't say they died." Thad blinks. "Pronounced dead and being dead are different things."

"I'm gonna die. I don't have time shit or anything like that. I might not stay dead, but. I will die."

Thad laughed at him. "If only you knew."

Kon frowns. "I might not know, but I do have a pretty good idea. A hunch, gut instinct. Whatever."

"You don't die. I don't know if you do. But you don't, alright? And obviously, Tim forgets this conversation and blames himself."

"Tim is probably taking notes. And then he somehow loses the notes, probably to a heat-vision related incident."

Thad nods. "That is positive action on your part."

Kon nods, finishing his pie and draining the last of the milk in a few seconds.

Thad finished his water, and offered his own empty plate to Kon, since he was unsure what to do with it.

Kon grabbed it, his own, and the glass and deposited them in the sink to be cleaned later. By him, after the Coop was cleaned.

"Is there anything I help with? Anything I can do for you?" Thad asks.

Kon frowns. "Told you, dude, you don't have to do chores 'less Ma asks, and she won't ask 'til you've lived here for a month. Cause she's got me, and if she really needed help she could yell Clark's name and he'd come, too."

"But I'm asking if there's anything you want me to do." Thad retorts.

"I have no authority around here. What Ma says goes, even when Pa was around."

Thad stares at him in confusion. No authority? What did that have to do with him offering his services?

Kon glances over. "Like, okay, so if I asked you to help, it'd be undermining her authority, plus you're a guest and we don't let guests do chores or anything. If you really wanted to help you could ask, but Ma left for the city proper in the truck not too long ago, so."

"It isn't undermining her authority or breaking the rules if I offer to do it, though."

"But I can't agree. Ma's wrath is fierce and I do not want to face it."

"What if you just did your work and I helped without asking?" Thad propositioned.

Kon can't help the soft whine he makes. "But if I did that then I'd have to clean the coop, and muck it, and probably check the cows, and then I'd have to plant the seeds, and then there's dishes, and..."

"Wouldn't you much rather have company when doing those things? I've no idea how to do those tasks, but I'd be happy to help."

Kon sighs. "Well maybe but. They're so messy and they're time consuming and gross." Kon knows he's bitching. He doesn't care.

"Time consuming? Show me how to do them."

"Dude, you can't speed through most of these. Animals're really fragile and kinda bitchy when it comes to super powers."

Thad freezes. "Really? Fine. Still, two people can work quicker than one."

Kon sighs. "...okay, fine. If nothing else the seeding'll go quicker."

Thad nodded, and glanced down at his clothing. The slacks were nice, and the shirt was new, but he finds he doesn't actually mind if they get dirty or not. And, as he'd left the sweater in Kon's room, he had less chance of getting heatstroke, if that was even a thing he could contract.

Kon stretches, before walking out the front door and heading toward the Chicken Coop. Krypto bounds over, barking excitedly.

Thad follows, waiting to see how to clean the chicken coop, which looked peculiarly like a small house.

Kon opens the door, cooing at the Chickens inside. "C'mon, girls, out into the pen with you, we have to clean it out, up you go Prissy." He nudges a rather fat Hen with his TTK, making her squawk loudly in protest. But they do manage to waddle out into the fenced in area connected to the back of the coop, and Kon closes the door behind them with a sigh.

Thad looks around the main part of the coop, cataloging where each piece is, and beginning to understand what the other had meant by "cleaning" the coop.

"And now, can you gather any eggs that're in the nests? I'm gonna go grab the bucket."

Thad grabbed the eggs gingerly, under the impression that squeezing them too hard would break them. What if their was a chick inside? At that thought, he pauses. What if?

Kon comes back. "Oh, if you're worried about any Chicks, don't. We don't have a rooster."

Thad sighs in relief and resumes picking them up.

Kon grins, handing him a basket to put the eggs in while he begins sweeping the hay and bird droppings up into a pile to be transferred to the bucket. It takes a while to do this, mostly because there's hay everywhere.

In the end, Thad ends up with more eggs than he could count- he'd lost track around 34.

Kon whistled. "Dang, I must've missed some this morning. I told Ma she should go over my work before I get coffee."

"You do this before coffee?" Thad asks.

"Milk the cow, Grab eggs, and turn the water turbine a few times if I took a shower. All before the sun's up or I've eaten." Kon yawns. "Early to wake and late to bed."

"That is... Way too much. I mean, I also go to bed late and wake early, but my tasks are usually more based on endurance in the morning, speed in the afternoon, and then more endurance in the evening. Though the routine usually accommodated hours of punishments."

"You keep mentioning these punishments, but you've literally done nothing wrong at all today. 'Cept maybe trip, and you can't really be blamed for that." Kon glances over, pausing in his work. "I can't see you messing up that much, you're too precise in your movements, even more than Clark or Barry, and they've been pretending to be normal for like, decades."

Thad blinked. "I have messed up, though. I talked too much and at the wrong times and I failed tests and I didn't check for security bugs and I tripped. And I knowingly informed you and another person about the future. I talked about myself too much and I showed disinterest in the endgame and will be accepting help in potentially putting off or removing myself from the endgame." He listed off.

"Talking too much isn't messing up, it's human. And sure, you missed the cameras and the bugs, but they're Bat-security, the only reason I know is 'cause Tim told me where they all are. I still can't find all of them. And sure, the future thing's a little messy, but it's not a big deal. I'll make sure Tim's notes I'm sure he has are destroyed and everything will be fine. And it's your right to not want part of that endgame. It sounds horrible and not very fun. You've got every right to accept help, it's. It's your right as a person, dude."

Thad looked at him. "I was just listing off everything I'd be punished for if I was currently being supervised. As things are, when Father confronts me I can only lie so many times before he catches on. Besides I'll already have enough on my plate simply for missing the meeting and failing to report about it."

"Well, that's dumb. You shouldn't be punished for stuff like that, you're being treated like, I don't know, a slave? It's not healthy. And Tim's probably got that document drawn up, by now. We can check my computer once this's done." He manages to gather just about all the hay, and begins scooping it into the bucket with the broom.

Thad furrowed his eyebrows. "That... That isn't how a slave is treated- it's, I'm fine. The punishments are excessive, but I've made it this long with them."

"Dude, has it ever occurred to you that like, if you were improving at all in your dad's eyes the punishments would lessen? And he'd let you have more leeway when you do mess up? Because people mess up and it's simply something we all do. Like, dude."

"It's occurred to me, the answer is always that I'm not good enough and haven't improved." Thad replied simply. "He gave one task and I was unable to complete it."

"Dude. Am I allowed to compare you with Imp for a second here? Cause you're honestly more capable of handling yourself than him when it comes to your emotions, your powers, and the way you carry yourself. Plus you think about what you say and do before you do it, probably a bit too much, really, which is the exact opposite of him. You're more capable as a person in just about every way." Kon crosses his arms, holding the broom up with his TTK. "Sure, Imp's made friends and connections to people, where you haven't, but that's because you're focused on something else, right?"

"Yeah, I'm focused the endgame, because that has always been the focus." Thad blinked at the praise. Was it praise? He was being compared to Impulse and better things were being said about him than the other. The original.

"Exactly. Imp doesn't really have anything motivating him right now, he's just sorta part of YJ and doing what Barry and whoever else is his mentor tell him to. 'Cause they have his best interest at heart and he forgets to do things if they don't." Kon taps his foot. "And you're motivated by something you want to happen, for questionable reasons, because it's all you've known. But if we change that, and we give you the opportunity to do whatever you want, you'd be in a similar boat with Imp. 'Cept instead of Barry and whoever, it'll probably be me and Ma. Maybe Batman. If he cares."

Thad looks down, thinking for a minute. "Is the current Batman Grayson or McGinnis?"

"...Wayne."

"Still? Well, I guess this is... Is this pre or post- wait you haven't disappeared yet, I remember now." He nods.

Kon blinks, trying to process that for a second. Then deciding to ignore it in favor of something else. "So Nightwing becomes Batman?"

"Yes. Around the same time that Robin becomes Red Robin and Damian Al Ghul takes the Robin mantle."

"Oh, so Timmers becomes Red Robin? Is his costume any good?" Kon is kinda curious.

"Um...." Thad grimaces. "He has a cowl for a while."

Kon groans. "Timmyyyyy. Why."

"Have you dated anyone on the team yet? You do, and it becomes an important and awkward part of Tim's future."

"Uh. Cassie and I sorta did, for a while, and there was that one time with Imp..."

"Well, when you disappear, Cassie and Tim both miss you a lot and date for a while. And a- I do believe he was gay- hawaiian superhero joins the Titans."

"...huh." Kon grunts.

"I think they broke up before you got back, and that you missed out on a threesome opportunity."

"Dang."

"But, all of the time that you were gone was spent playing video games with Impulse, so it is honestly a lose/lose situation." He joked.

"Dude, nah. Imp cheats."

"Does he cheat to win or lose?"

"To win? Like, he is a little shit who I should not play video-games with, because he's an incurable cheat who breaks the controllers."

Thad nods. "Alright."

"Yeah. So." Kon finishes shoving the hay and bird droppings into the bucket, which would be overflowing if Kon wasn't using TTK to keep in all together, and opens the door to let the Chickens back in. "C'mon, let's go check that document while the girls here make themselves at home."

Thad grabs the basket of eggs and follows him out. "Alright. If it's done, may I look it over?"

"Sure thing, my computer's on the desk in my room, do you mind if I stay outside for a bit to get rid of this?"

Thad paused a moment before nodding. "Where would it be on the computer?"

"It'll be the only thing open, Tim'd make sure of that."

Thad nods again. "What do I do with the eggs?"

"Leave 'em on the counter in the kitchen, Ma'll take care of 'em when she gets back."

He walks away from Kon, and leaves the eggs on the kitchen counter before heading up the stairs to the room. He finds the desk, opens the computer, and is pleased to see that, in fact, the document is the only thing open. "I don't know if you can hear me, but could you please make sure that there is no way this footage could reach Luthorcorp?" He asks quickly. "I'd be an idiot not to think Mr. Luthor has bugs in the computer. Or the internet, or something. Thank you." He says before beginning to read through the document. He highlights every part of the document that his Father could get around, explains how, and adds more things to the bottom of the document in a green text.

Tim snorts. There's no way Luthor could get any of this information, he'd built the computer himself. He makes a small chat window pop up on the computer, to voice it.  
"R: Luthor can't get ahold of any information given or received by the computer, it's strictly run on and was made by Wayne Enterprises. Plus I built that model myself. Don't open Kon's files."

"I wasn't planning on it." Thad replies. "That would be a violation of trust and incredibly rude, especially considering that he is not apart of the endgame. If he were, that would be a different story, but he is not."

"R: Oh that's good. I meant that you probably would not want to see what he keeps on here, mostly, because he is weird and he might call me creepy but he's the one with the bondage fetish."

Thad's eyebrows went up. "Oh?"

"R: If you want to see the extent of his interests it's the file pinned to his toolbar. Neither of us mind if you snoop, Kon can hear everything you say and I can see and hear everything happening within a mile of the Kent's farm."

"That is... I'll wait to look at that for some time." He pulled back. "Thank you for drafting the document, if there were many holes."

"R: It was no trouble. It's good practice for any future projects involving legal documentation, I can never have enough practice with those. Kon will probably come upstairs somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour, he seems to have started playing fetch with Krypto."

Thad moves the chair out to sit at the desk. "Alright. So, how long have you been Robin again?"

"R: A few years now. I re-took the Mantle from Spoiler, Batgirl now, just a few months ago."

Thad nodded. "You're relatively close to the trauma. Sorry."

"R: It's fine. It's also nothing new."

"I hope it goes better than the wording led me to believe."

"R: I will as well, though my luck suggests it will not. Thank you for the warning, if nothing else."

"You're welcome. This time at least you have that. Don't believe them when they tell you that the people are dead. Not Impulse or Kon, Batman or Batgirl, Nightwing, your replacement, none of them."

"R: Try my best. You're very helpful, for someone whose goal is supposed to be killing one of my best friends, who you just mentioned."

"You're welcome, I just wanted to warn you so that you did not give up. Giving up, when considering your ethics and past, would mean nothing good for you at this point in your life. Don't forget to take notes, and no theory is too crazy. Don't forget to publish them in a book."

"R: I'll keep that in mind. Good luck with whatever it is you're doing, and with handling Kon. You'll probably need it."

Thad nodded, though he wasn't entirely sure how he was handling Kon. "Thank you."

"R: Tell me if I should revise the document any. I wasn't sure of every specification to make."

"Well, I added a bunch of notes to it on parts that needed to be worded differently and parts that need to be added."

"R: Save the document so I can go over it. You can do as you please while I do, have fun."

Thad saves it, and, after a moment of thinking, opens a web browser to look up the author of the book he'd read earlier.

Tim goes over the document, reading Thad's notes and revising the bits he'd indicated. He glances at the monitors and sees Kon come inside, finally, and begin floating up the stairs.  
"R: Kon's coming upstairs. Just a warning."

"Not looking at anything wrong." Thad replied, scanning through the page on the author.

"R: Just warning you he's coming. He probably smells."

Thad sighs and clicks out of the browser, turning to wait and stare at the door, since he assumes that is what Tim is telling him to do.

Kon stops in the bathroom, taking a quick shower. Tim says nothing, assuming Thad can hear the water running and that will be warning enough. He fixes a few lines of text, the wording was a little clunky.

Thad turns back to the computer for a minute, rescanning the document. "Oh, I missed a part. The third section, it needs to be reworded. Something's off."

"R: I noticed. I'm fixing that now. Kon should be finished in... 15 minutes? Perhaps a bit longer."

"So I can go back to my research on the author?" He asks, eyebrows going up.

"R: I never said to stop, I simply warned you he was coming upstairs." Oh, Kon's done already. Perhaps he'd sped through the shower or something? Tim doesn't care.

"True, but you kept mentioning it as if it were an important thing that would impact my life negatively in the next five minutes." Thad retorts. He doesn't pay mind to the fact that the water in the bathroom is already off again.

Kon walks in at that point, yawning and stretching. His clothes, except for his boxers are tossed into a pile in the far corner of his room. His boxers are the only thing he's still wearing. He's wet, since he just came from the shower, and he takes a minute to decide what he wants to do before heading toward the bed to flop down on his back.

Thad jumps, and turns the desk chair around so fast that the back of it bumps into the desk. He sees more skin on Kon than he realized there was, and his face immediately heats up. Is that the goal for Kon? Is that what he is supposed to do? What is he expected to do with a mostly naked and- oh dear, very attractive- host?

Kon yawns again, and sits up enough to look at Thad. "Hi. C'mere." He beckons the speedster over, because cuddles sound amazing when added to naptime, which this most certainly is becoming. He knows Tim is probably gloating or something wherever he is. Kon doesn't care.

Thad is frozen in the seat and is probably shaking, but not visibly or from fear- just nervousness. Slight anxiousness. His face is getting even more red. He hesitates for another two minutes before he stands and heads for the bed, waiting for Kon to tell him what to do next.

Kon stretches again, and he's just about decided to roll over when Thad is suddenly close enough, so he just sorta, reaches over and tugs Thad onto the bed for cuddles.

Thad tenses when he's pulled into the bed, but after a few seconds he relaxes just enough to get bitchy. "I still have my shoes on and the bed has books on it." he complains.

Kon grunts, and uses his TTK to remove the books(they're stacked onto his desk in a haphazard pile, now, but hey, that works), and sort of grumbles a little about the shoes. He's not really good at removing clothing with TTK, at least not other people's clothing, and no thank you.

Thad sits up and takes the shoes off, then lays back down, because that's where Kon wants him at the moment. He doesn't know how close to be, however, and makes sure there's enough room between them that another person, roughly his own size or a little larger, could comfortably fit and have a few inches of room.

Kon grumbles at the distance and tugs Thad over so he can wrap his arms around the speedster comfortably. He sighs a little happily and nuzzles Thad's hair.

Thad, not used to that, gasps, and then finds himself face-to-face with Kon's chest. He vibrates a little bit.

Kon hums, tucking his chin over Thad's head and patting his back a little. "R'lax, jus' cuddles now."

Thad takes a few deep breaths, nodding before attempting to slow down. He's surrounded by a big, hulking farmer-tanned wall of flesh, on a summer afternoon. His face is still bright red and blushing, but it's more tolerable now.

Kon hums again, and settles in his spot a bit more comfortably. He's pretty much already asleep, breath evening out and hold loosening just a little.

Thad doesn't fall asleep, merely stewing in his emotions and attempting to get his heart rate back to normal and listening for any sound other than the soft thumping of Kon's heart, around where Thad's chin is pressed to his chest, and the breaths Kon is taking, and the rustling of trees in a soft breeze outside of the room. The house creaks and sways ever so slightly in the peacefulness, and everything smells like pie and hay and a little like the animals down in the barn or the coop. Thad thinks about what it would be like to stay here, and part of him is sure that this is, after all, a test by his father. How could somewhere so quaint and closed off from the rest of the world exist? Sure, it had Superboy living within its walls- which, if this is a test, is a strange character for his father to have used- but it also had a character and a warmth that Thad wasn't ready to leave.

Kon mumbles in his sleep, perfectly content with the world and how his day has gone so far. One of his hands plays with Thad's hair, absentmindedly.

Thad relaxes into the touch, but he also continues thinking about what it means, and what he will do if this all manages to be a test. He'll assure his father that no, he'd never turn his back on the end game, and that no, he'd never have actually believed what Tim had said or what Kon had said. But for some reason it feels wrong, to think about not believing them. Their logic was based more on facts, while his father's had always been based on the endgame. The endgame wasn't a concrete source of knowledge, it was an idea and a plan that his whole life had been shaped from, and it felt wrong to think of it as anything but a plan and an idea.

Tim finishes the document, and updates the version on Kon's computer. He fixed up a few different things along with the pointers Thad had given, and now had a very concrete idea of what to do when making a document of this type of the need ever arises in the future. There's a soft beep from the computer as the file uploads.

Thad hears the beep and tenses for a moment, before relaxing again. It had come from the computer, he could tell. He decides though, to try to plan what he'll do if the shoe never actually drops. He could stay here for as long as he was welcome by the inhabitants, and had a binding legal document that allowed it and had no loopholes that he was aware of. There was the mysterious Ma Kent and Kon, and there was Tim to speak to over the computer, and that was only assuming there were no other inhabitants or neighbors who liked to visit. He could avoid training and punishment as long as he did not lay eyes on Impulse, because if he did he would most likely automatically launch himself at the other speedster on mere principle, and that would probably get him kicked out of the Kent Haven.

Tim makes a note to tell Bart to avoid Kansas for the next week or so. It wouldn't be pretty if Impulse just waltzed in like he normally did, really. Kon also would need to be reminded that Ma was off buying dinner preparations for the Kent family dinner they had scheduled the next day when Clark, Lois, and anyone Kon might invite(he had chosen to invite Tim, last week, but Thad would make more sense, since he is in fact already there.). The computer beeps again with the notification for Kon, which plays a cheesy 8-bit version of the Superman themesong.

The end of that train of thought coincides with another beep, and then a series of noises that he recognizes as a tune played in 8-bit. He doesn't question it, and nudges Kon.

Kon grunts, mumbling. And then he recognizes Tim's way of getting his attention with horrible 80's songs remade in 8-bit, and sits up to look at the computer.

Thad is jostled when Kon sits up, and grumbles, but he just buries his face in the pillow and goes back to thinking about Impulse and how he wants to punch his stupid face. Losing in fights isn't nearly as annoying as fights getting broken up by outside forces, like other speedsters and tropical storms and hotdog stands, like their previous one had been, and he still isn't over it.

Kon stares for a minute, and then he whines low in his throat and flops back down.

Thad grumbles, pushing at Kon to go check on the message, in case it's important.

"I don't want to have to see Clark tomorrow..." Kon whines again. He'd read it easily enough, from where he was sitting, and now the tune is finished.

"Why would you have to see him tomorrow?" Thad asks, voice slightly muffled by the pillow. He feels the beginning of a headache, and realizes that he left the pair of glasses on. He grabs them and throws them vaguely in another direction, and decides that it' too warm for his pants as well, and kicks them off.

"The Kent Family Dinner's tomorrow."

Thad pauses in the middle of kicking his pants off. "Will I have to leave?"

"No. Tim was telling me 'cause he's my official guest and he said I should just trade him for you so he doesn't have to fly over from New Jersey. Lazy creeper."

"An official guest is allowed to a family dinner? And he is suggesting that I be that guest?" Thad clarifies.

"Yeah. Clark's bringing Lois Lane. Sometimes he brings Batman."

"Batman, into this home? It feels... Weird. Wrong. Why would he be here?"

"Cause he's Clark's friend. I guess I could call him Bruce, but that feels wrong. He is and always will be Batman to me."

"I know that he's Bruce, but to me it always depended on how he acted, which name he'd take."

Kon shrugged. "He's Batman." He yawns. "I'm not in the mood to talk to Clark, though."

"I understand." Thad said. "But this is something you knew would be occurring prior to today, and you still have time to prepare."

"Ma's out buying food for tomorrow. I did most of the chores, all I need to do now is seed the fields."

"Seeding the fields. Sounds simple." Thad hummed.

"Simple, yes. Quick or easy? No." Kon stretches out, yawning. "I can't hold the seeds too tight or I crush them. Can't push them into the earth too hard or too fast or I crush them."

"Sounds tedious." Thad revised.

"Bingo." Kon sighs. "But the turn-out is worth it. Plus, if we somehow manage to grow more than we can eat, we can sell the excess to buy more seeds or something."

"Okay." Thad nods. "That's a good reason to get the job done."

"Yeah. I'm just taking a break 'cause Ma'll be back soon and if I manage to stall til tomorrow Clark'll do it for me."

Thad snorts. "I could do it, but it is always the best option to pawn off unimportant responsibilities on others."

"I can't ask you to do it, and even if Clark bitches he likes doing farmwork and I can just tell him I was a little busy today, you know. And Tim still has to show up. Ma baked that Cherry pie just for him."

"Should I leave before Clark comes?"

"No. You're here and Ma probably is getting extra food to make you a plate tomorrow too. Tim just has to come because Ma was looking forward to him showing up." Kon says the last part louder, not because he thinks Tim couldn't hear him, but because he knows that Tim knows that he knows that Tim knows that he's guilt-tripping Tim now.

Thad nods. "Will there be more of that blackberry pie?"

"Yeah, Ma'll make more. It's Lois's favorite. She'll start it after she makes the Apple pie for Clark."

"Why would she need to make more, though? She just made a fresh one today."

"Lois always takes home a whole one, rather than eating some here. So she'll make one just for Lois."

"That's kind of Ma." He hums.

"That's just how Ma is. Tim calls her Mrs. Kent. Don't follow his example, okay?"

"I will refrain." He replied. "Why would I call her anything but what I've known her as?"

"Well like, he's under the impression it's more polite to call her that, but she's Ma. And she's told him to call her Ma like, a million times, but he refuses."

"Now, that's being stubborn and rude." Thad chastised.

"Exactly!" Kon huffs. "I dunno what his problem is. At least he's not rude enough to refuse pie though."

"I'm glad I gave in and ate mine."

"Yeah. The pie's one of the best things about the farm. Ma and Krypto are pretty great, I dunno if you actually noticed Krypto though."

"There was mention of a dog."

"He was out there earlier." Kon thinks a second, before getting up to open the window and yell for his dog. "Krypto, here boy! C'mon, mister superdog!"

Thad turns to look over his shoulder, and waits to see the dog.

Krypto barrels Kon over, barking and tail wagging a mile a minute. Literally! After he's finished saying hi to Kon he floats over to investigate Thad, sniffing him.

Thad reaches out and boops the dog's nose.

Krypto barks, tail wagging, and hops onto Thad's stomach, rolling onto his back to ask for stomach scritches.

Thad groans, but gives in and starts scratching the dog's stomach.

Krypto's tail wags faster, and Kon laughs. "This is the last surviving Canine from Krypton. I don't really know how he got here."

"It's surprising they would have canines there." Thad muses. "But not unwelcome."

Kon laughs again. "Yeah. He's pretty great, aren't ya, boy?" Krypto yaps at him, relaxing a bit more.

Thad continues scratching, his hand speeding up a little to be able to be more effective.

Krypto whines low in happiness, head lolling back and leg twitching. Kon giggles, and stands up, deciding to finally get dressed.

Thad continues scratching until his hand gets the beginning of a cramp from the position, and pats Krypto's stomach a few times. "Please get up now."

Krypto whines a little, but rolls over and stands up, trotting over to curl up on the other side of Kon's bed. Kon has pulled on a pair of jeans and is browsing his shirts.

"Can you hand me my pants?" Thad asks, and after a moment, "And my glasses?"

Kon uses his TTK to find and float Thad's pants and glasses over to him. Krypto bats at the pants as they pass him.

Thad stands to put the pants on, and then pushes the glasses into his nose. "What is Clark like? Has he heard of me?"

"He's a walking bundle of American stereotypes, which is insulting because technically he is neither American nor is he from Earth, and maybe? He'll probably have a vague idea of who you are, but trust my judgment of your character enough that so long as you don't hurt Ma or Lois he won't care, probably."

"That's... Good, I guess." Thad sighs.

"He can probably hear this conversation, and he hasn't come to personally tell me I'm wrong yet, so."

"Does he normally pick and choose which theories to debunk? The internet quite needs him to step in.

"He can't really hear what you type, so he can't hear everything. But in spoken conversations, at least ones involving me about him, he tends to get self-righteous and douchey."

"Self-righteous and douchey." Thad repeats.

"He doesn't really like me and finds my existence... I don't know what word he'd use but he's just a dick about me in general and it took him like, a year and a half to have an actual conversation with me even though we saw each other like, every day. He's a douche."

"And you don't want to see him because he's a douche?" Thad reaffirms.

"Kinda, yeah."

"And killing him is not an option?"

"Oh gods no. It's really hard to kill me, right? It's like, a bajillion times harder to kill him, and he'll see it coming a mile away. So nah."

"Then I've no advice but to deal with him." Thad replies. "I apologize."

"It's fine, dude. I was just bitchin' just to bitch. I know he knows I know he can hear me, so he knows my feelings about him have yet to change from like, ugh, this douche, and oh, there's his bitching right back. See?"

"Yes I do. Is he bitching?"

"Oh wow, that's rude."

"What did he say?"

"He called me a leather-clad delinquent with a piercings fetish. Excuse him, I haven't worn leather in a year."

Thad snorted. "Piercing fetish?"

"It's a little hard to get them, but I look snazzy in earrings, nose rings, eyebrow rings..."

"What, do you use a shard of kryptonite to pierce yourself?"

"Kryptonite tipped needle."

"And you do this because it makes you look nice?"

"Makes me look *sexy*" Kon corrects, grinning. "Plus, Clark'd never do it and it makes me look different from him. Helps me look like my own person, ya know?"

"You are your own person, though."

"Yeah, but I still look exactly like Clark did when he was, uh, 19."

"And people are aware that there is a superhero called Superboy flying around. If they see a young Superman, they'll put two and two together. Even so, I'm sure the piercings look nice."

"They do, I'm just insulted because he tried to insinuate they're ugly- they are not in bad taste! Take that back, you liar!"

Thad sighed at the childish argument on Superman's end. "Why not ignore him, and focus on the conversation, and on putting on a shirt?" He gestured at Kon's uncovered abdomen and nipples.

Kon huffed. "Ugh fine. He'll be here to bitch in person tomorrow anyway- oh now that's just rude. Ma'd wipe your mouth with soap if she heard that, Clark!"

Thad snorts but refrains from commenting and lengthening the bitching about big boy blue.

Kon huffs again, and turns back to his closet to go through his shirts again. He pauses at a vague red, blue, and black shape, before grabbing a black shirt with a red Superman symbol on the front.

Thad watches and then nearly groans- finally he'd stop with the shirtlessness and confusing lines.

Kon tugs it on, and grabs Krypto by his collar to not-so-gently pull the large Labrador-esque dog off his bed and plop down next to Thad. Krypto yelps.

The fall onto the bed sends waves through the mattress, and lightly bounced on it. He heard Kon push Krypto away and saw the others profile.

Kon grins, and opens his mouth, just in time for Krypto to hop up and shove him into Thad, mouth crashing onto Thad's suddenly.

Thad was surprised by what had just happened, and while he could have moved away from the awkward slamming of lips and torsos, he hadn't. He sits there with his lips and Kon's mashed together, and he waits for Kon to decide what to do, decide if this goes further.

Kon stays still, assuming the speedster will register and react faster than him. When he registers that no action seems to be happening, he pulls back, cheeks tinted a little. "Er, sorry. I didn't mean to, and. My dog's an ass."

Kon pulls away relatively quickly, leaving Thad blushing and a bit wanting. He blinks and coughs. "No, it's. It's fine. You did push him off the bed first."

Kon huffs, shaking his head. "Technically, he's not s'posed to be in the house. But I'm sure Ma'll make an exception today, so long as he doesn't wreck anything."

Thad glances at Krypto, and pats his leg, then the bed next to him.

Krypto gets up, and kicks Kon in the ribs as he floats over to Thad. Kon grunts.

Thad pats the bed again, unable to stop a smile.

Krypto curls up next to him, tail wagging. Kon grumbles a little and rubs his side.

Thad starts rubbing Krypto's stomach, chuckling at the humor in the situation.

Krypto makes happy puppy noises, and Kon rolls over to grumble to himself about traitors.

"Calm down," Thad rolls his eyes.

Kon continues grumbling, though he speaks softer so Thad can't make any of it out. Krypto whines a little, arching for more scratchies

Thad begins actually scratching, and does it slightly faster than normal human scratches can achieve while still being casual.

Krypto practically melts. Kon makes a few more complaining noises before getting up to help Ma bring in the groceries. He heard her leave the store.

Thad rubs Krypto's stomach for a minute more, then he pats him twice and stands to follow Kon downstairs.

Kon is waiting outside, fingers tapping on the rail on the porch, watching the road Ma will come back on in around 30 minutes.

Thad comes to stand next to Kon, looking out over the property. "How much belongs is yours? Well, Ma's."

"How much land do we have, you mean? A little over a thousand acres. It's pretty big, when Pa kicked the bucket it wasn't quite half this size, Ma's been expanding."

"A thousand acres? With just you, Ma, and sometimes Clark?" Thad asks.

"Well, yeah. B'fore I came along it was so Ma could sell excess, get money, ya know? Now it's so she can make enough food to feed me. I eat a bunch, if you haven't noticed. Plus Barry, Imp, Wally, and a bunch of other supers with big appetites come by a lot and Ma's got this whole thing where if you're under her roof you should be eating. It's why the oven's almost never off."

Thad nods. "That makes sense. What all is growing?"

"The fields, mostly. More room for crops. We don't really need more animals, we don't tend to eat them very much here."

"Alright? What crops do you have?"

"Oh, uh." Kon takes a minute to think before ticking them off with his fingers. "Corn, Carrot, Lettuce, Tomato, Potato, Wheat, Sweet Potato, Grains, Soybean, Sunflower..." He pauses, to see if he can name a few more off the top of his head.

Thad nods, kind of impressed. "And all of it is for feeding you and Clark?"

"Well, me, mostly. Plus, since my metabolism seems to be stabling out and I can start weaning myself off on bigger meals, Ma'll be able to sell excess again soon."

Thad nods. "Why was your metabolism unstable?"

"Wasn't finished. Or something, maybe human and Kryptonian DNA don't mix very well? I dunno. Not too great at the sciencey gobble-di-gook."

Thad understands, though he never quite had that problem. "And how many are you supposed to seed?"

"Half of 'em. I did the other half yesterday. The slower growing ones should be done by tomorrow so they're all ready to be harvested at the same time."

"That's still a lot. What are you going to do with all of that food? Can you eat it all?"

"So far, yeah. Most of it can keep for a few weeks, without extra preservatives, which is just about how long it'd take for me to eat all of that on my own. Ma helps, a little, and we share with anybody who wants to come by. Oh, Mister Jenkins down the road's coming out to say hi to Ma, I need to grab my glasses."

Thad had forgotten about the glasses. "Do you actually need them?"

"Secret Identity, dude."

"How would that do anything for your identity?"

"Well, the only difference between Superboy and Conner Kent is one wears glasses and slouches a little to make himself seem smaller. I don't really know why it works, but it does. I mean, I can't just stand out here in my uniform and expect Mister Jenkins not to notice."

"Yes you can, you look exactly the same." Thad retorts.

"Dude, if they saw me without the glasses just hanging out, then they'd know who I am, and it wouldn't take a genius to know, if that Superboy is Conner Kent, then who is his cousin? is it Batman??"

Thad shakes his head but doesn't reply. "Should I, Green Lantern, go hide?"

"Nah, you're a friend from out of town. I have a lot of those, Mister Jenkins won't even question it." Kon goes inside to find the glasses, grumbling under his breath about them.

Thad sighs, turning to look out the porch again at the property.

Kon comes back out in a few minutes, glasses perched on his nose and a hat in hand. "Mister Jenkins has been hitting on Ma for weeks. D'ya think he'll try a pick-up line today?"

"Maybe? Why the hat?"

"It's hot out, the sun's up high. Humans burn."

Thad nods. "Appearances must be pretty important, huh?"

"'xactly." He stretches, yawning.

Thad yawns as well, and sighs. "This has been a long day."

"Yeah." The truck pulls up into the driveway, and Kon walks out to meet it, pulling his hat on and waving at the older woman who steps out. "Hey Ma!"

Thad hesitates before following Kon out to the woman. He smiles at her, and realizes, too late, that he isn't wearing shoes. "Hello ma'am."

Ma Kent smiles at Thad a little, nodding slightly. "Hello, dear." Kon has already walked out back and grabbed two of the large bags of food Ma had brought with her. They were mostly things for dinner tonight and the next day.

Thad decides to help carrying things as well, and grabs one of the large bags.

Kon grins at him. He drops the bags off in the kitchen and grabs another two bags. Ma grabs one of the smaller ones, and walks inside to begin organizing the food and begins preparing dinner for tonight.

Thad continues grabbing bags, but moves for the smaller ones on the other rounds so that he can grab more and move them faster.

Kon grabs the last two large bags, and snags a third small one with an impressive use of his foot and TTK.

Thad watches him, snorting and shaking his head.

Kon shoots him a grin, and walks back inside to drop the bags off. Ma has just finished seasoning some sort of beef to her liking, Kon can't tell what she'll make with it yet.

Thad sets his bags down and waits for Kon to be finished.

Kon brings in the last two bags, and begins putting stuff away. If he's unsure where to put it, he leaves it in the bag for Ma to place at her leisure. Ma begins making some sort of stew.

Thad, not knowing where things go, decides to go to the sink and wash the few plates, cups, and forks inside.

Ma shoos him from the sink, motioning for him to sit down. "You're our guest, sweetie. And Kon will do dishes after we've eaten, right?"  
"Yes, Ma."

"Oh, I could just do those, right? It's something to do." Thad asks hopefully.

Ma shakes her head a little. "If you need something to do, dear, why don't you grab one of Clark's books or Kon's computer."

"I did read one of the books earlier today, and it was very good but if I start reading another, I doubt I'll be able to stop for dinner." He replies.

Ma waves her hand. "Dinner won't be for another hour, dear. You can read a book in that time, can't you? Nothing of Clark's was that long." Kon muffles a snort, but finishes putting the food away, mostly.

He nods, giving in. Thad speeds upstairs to grab the book, and then sits on a chair in the kitchen so that he isn't too far from them. Logically, he knew that the entire Kent property would be safe after the contract was complete, but he'd much rather stay close.

Kon stands up after a minute, pulling his glasses off and tucking them into his shirt. Ma bats at his arm lightly, and he takes the hint to get out of her way.

Thad glances up, then returns to the story. Thesca and Meyre were currently separated and healing, but Thesca was suffering nightmares and PTSD.

Kon sits down in the living room, sprawling across the couch and letting his hat fall into his eyes.

Thad waits a minute before following Kon into the living room and sitting in the armchair next to the couch.

Kon has chosen to take a mini-nap. Krypto comes downstairs to curl up on Kon's stomach for warmth.

Thad ignores the fact that Kon is napping, focusing on the book and everything happening to the kingdom in the book.

Krypto gets bored and wanders over to press his face onto Thad's knee.

Thad looks down at Krypto, cocking an eyebrow at the dog.

Krypto looks up at him with big blue eyes. It's unclear if he wants food or pats, but he wants something.

"What do you want?" Thad asks. "I don't understand your big eyes."

Krypto rubs against the book, whining softly. Kon grumbles a little at the noise, rolling over.

Thad closes the book and sets it aside. "What do you want?"

Krypto hops up a little, to rub against Thad's hands. Kon rolls off the couch, floating at the same height.

Thad rolls his eyes and starts petting Krypto, even going so far as to scratch behind his ears.

Krypto pants, tail wagging faster. Kon stretches, and rolls back onto the couch.

Thad pats his leg, pausing scratching to let the dog know to come up.

Krypto hops up, rolling onto his back so his stomach is open for scratchies. Kon grabs one of the throw pillows to cuddle.

Thad scratches Krypto's stomach, going fast enough to be enjoyable but not enough to hurt the dog or give him any sort of burn.

It's unlikely Krypto would get burns, especially since Bart had a habit of giving him supersonic scratchies whenever they were in the same area. Krypto melts at the contact anyway, happy puppy noises and all.

Thad smiles and adds his second hand, scratching as best as he can.

Krypto's leg bounces, and he makes a few more pleased noises. Kon rolls off the couch, falling and waking himself up this time. There's a soft groan from the floor.

Thad laughs, continuing scratching Krytpo, but bringing it down a bit.

Kon sits up, as Krypto whines at the loss of speed.

Thad scratches for a minute more, then switches to rubbing Krypto's stomach instead.

Krypto groans, but is still pretty pleased with his situation. Kon glances over, frowning. "I think he likes you more than he likes me." He squints.

"Hm? I think I like him more than I like you." Thad jokes.

Kon huffs. "Everybody goes for the dog. First Cassie, then..." He grumbles a little.

"Maybe if you didn't whine, everyone would go for you. Krypto doesn't whine nearly as much as you, and all he does is whine for scratching."

"I do not only whine. I'm a joy to be around."

"You are, but you whine loudly enough to give second doubts about the joyful part of that."

Kon huffs. "I do not whine, I *bitch*. There's a difference."

"You whine and you bitch." Thad replies.

"Excuse. I do not whine. Ever. And I am a *joy* to be around." Kon huffs, and Ma informs them dinner is ready.

Thad pushes Krypto off of him and stands up, stretching. His shirt rides up a little, but he doesn't pay it any mind and heads for the dining room table he hadn't noticed earlier.

Kon's eyes were drawn to Thad's stomach. He walks into the dining room. Ma made stew and salad.

Thad isn't sure where to sit, so he waits for Kon or Ma to sit first and then tell him where.

Kon sits in his spot, Ma sits down in her own. Kon grins at Thad. "Sit down wherever you want."

After hesitating, Thad sits next to Ma and across from Kon, flashing a smile at both of them. "Thank you."

Kon grins. Ma nods slightly, smiling.

Thad considers reaching for the salad, but waits for them to do so first.

Ma picks up her spoon, to begin eating her stew. Kon grabs a roll, and the stick of butter.

Assured he hasn't made a social faux pas and forgone their grace (something he's made the mistake of doing before), Thad makes himself a full bowl of salad first.

The Kents don't really do grace anymore, considering they have not one, but three different aliens in the family. Kon is extremely thankful, considering.

Thad enjoys the silence, and finds it comfortable. Ma is looking him over, but discreetly enough to keep him at ease.

Kon dips his roll into his stew, grinning.

Thad eats quietly, looking around the room, at the table and his food, at Ma, and, inevitably, at Kon. He knew there would be a downside to sitting across from him, and eye contact is that downside.

Kon smiles brightly, chewing on a bit of meat from the stew.

Thad smiles back, foot beginning to tap lightly.

Kon thinks a minute. "So..."  
Ma raises an eyebrow. Kon powers on. "Do you want to talk about anything."

"Um, I don't know?" Thad says, though it's more a question than anything else.

Kon thinks. "Uhh..."  
Ma shakes her head. "Boys."

Thad turns his attention to her. "Tell me about yourself, Ma'am?"

"Call me Ma."  
Kon snorts.

Thad smiles. "Yes ma'am, Ma. Anyways, tell me about yourself." She smiles at him. "Well, I used to be married to Pa Kent, but a few years ago he passed of a stroke. We found Clark when he was a toddler and raised him, and when Kon came to me, I raised him too." Thad nods.

Kon rolls his eyes. "I didn't 'come' to you, you yelled at Clark for not telling you about me and to bring me over so you could discipline us."

"And then he brought you over and I yelled some sense into that boy. Though you'd think I'd said nothing, because he still does the same things."

"He thinks you haven't noticed." Kon stage whispers. He rolls his eyes at something, and sits back. "Ugh."

Thad blinks. "What's he saying now?"

Kon crosses his arms. He mimics Clark's voice, which he's actually scarily good at. "...That boy is a menace to society, didn't you notice his lack of regard for property damage? Lois don't ignore me."

Thad snorts. "He's more whiny than you, and that's saying something." Ma huffs. "I didn't raise him to be that way, I wish he'd take the cheese and leave the whine."

Kon huffs. "Oh don't get snippy now, Big Blue. I can mimic you whenever I wanna."

Thad eats more of his salad, a little wary of the stew. He knows it will probably taste fine, but still.

Kon huffs again, before going back to his Stew. Sometimes he wished Clark wasn't nigh invulnerable.

~o~

Thad walked into Kon's room behind him, still quietly laughing from Ma's parting line before she turned on her soap operas. The rest of dinner had gone nicely and nothing bad had happened. "So," he yawns. "What are we going to do for bed? You only have one, and I won't kick you out of your own bed."

Kon raises an eyebrow. "Dude, we've got like, three choices. I sleep in the air and you're on the bed, we both sleep on the floor, or we share the bed."

"I guess sharing doesn't sound too bad. We napped earlier today." He doesn't mention that he hadn't gotten any sleep, and is surprisingly drowsy, despite how lazy the day had been.

Kon grins. "Perfect."

Thad smiles, and looks around the room. "So, are we going to sleep now? Or?"

"One sec, dude. Do you really wanna sleep in jeans? Do you want me to?"

Thad stared at him. "I'm not wearing jeans, these are slacks, and I kick them off anyways."

"Dude. Does it really matter?" Kon pulls off his shirt, undoing his pants and tossing both articles of clothing into the pile in the corner.

"Does it?" He asks, starting to blush again.

"After a certain hour the pants come off and the shirt is quick to follow." Kon recites, before flopping onto the bed with a groan.

Thad, after hesitating, takes the pants off and crawls into the bed. Then he curses and takes the glasses off, throwing them vaguely off the bed.

Kon grumbles a little before curling an arm around Thad's waist.

Thad makes a small surprised noise that he won't admit to, and moves slightly closer to Kon. He should have expected cuddling, but he didn't.

Kon hums, tucking his chin on the top of Thad's head.

Thad takes deep breaths to steady himself.

Kon mumbles, rubbing Thad's back lightly. He's almost asleep within a few minutes.

The contact, and the slight backrub, and the safety of the situation helps Thad so that he's actually drifting off within a minute or two of laying down, which is strange and exciting.

Kon hums, and mumbles softly. He might have dreams tonight(oh god don't let him have them).

When Thad drifted completely, he dreamed of falling, but into warm blackberry pie instead of the normal dreamscape. And it didn't feel like falling, so much as it felt like being held, which was weird and new and good.

Kon hated his dreams. Because he only ever had the one. And it was a shitty one, too. For some reason his mind fixated on the what-if of him having never breaking out of Cadmus- out of Luthorcorp- and the eventuality that would have happened. Him killing Superman, taking his place, but being under Luthor's control.

Thad leans back into the warmth holding him, marveling at the thick purple and browning crust walls, and he ignores the dreams he remembers in favor of enjoying this one.

Just as the fight, that happens the same way every time, comes to an end, Kon makes a soft discontented noise. He pulls away a little, to try and curl in on himself.

The warmth backs away and Thad halfway wakes up, softly whining and reaching for the warmth again, eyes still closed tight to try to keep the dream alive.

Kon grumbles, turning his back and curling his arms around himself. He's managed to win the fight, just barely, and Luthor is there to congratulate him.

Thad wakes up the rest of the way, and groggily reaches for Kon to wake him up, not liking the way he's curled up or the expression on his face. He tries to worm his way back into Kon's arms, vibrating slightly and mumbling things like "it's morning time" and "Ma made eggs" and "your breath smells gross" to try to wake him up.

Kon whimpers. Luthor doesn't usually talk about Ma but hearing him do it is even worse. He curls up a bit more, trying to make himself smaller.

Thad tries again. "You're late for school. The cows are giving birth. Your breakfast pie is burning. Your girlfriend saw you naked and thought your penis looked weird. Clark stopped bitching."

Kon starts to wake up a little. That last one was impossible, even if it was weird Luthor was telling him this. And Clark was dead.

Seeing results, Thad sighs in relief. "Clark stopped bitching about you and started saying really nice things- he likes your hair and thinks you need more piercings, especially on your penis, which your girlfriend thinks looks weird."

Kon groans. He tries to roll away, because no.

"Kon- sorry, just, please wake up, it's Thad, okay? Wake up."

Kon whines, but he's almost awake. He groans a little, eyes opening a crack. "Mm?"

Thad smiles and tugs at his arm. "Let me in?"

Kon blinks. "Oh, uh, sorry. I. Dreams." He bites his lip a little, but wraps an arm around the speedster.

"It's okay. Wanna talk about it?"

Kon bit his lip, before mumbling softly. "...it's a reoccurring dream. Only one I have, ever..."

Thad nodded, starting to softly vibrate reassuringly.

"I think that's on purpose, actually. It was designed to make me want the outcome- I. I..." He can't keep talking. It won't come.

"Kon, it's okay, I understand, only keep talking if it'll help." Thad whispered. "Otherwise, I understand, okay? The same thing happens to me every time there's something sweet, or something that Impulse likes. Father made sure we hated the opposite things so that I'd have more fuel to kill him. I understand the little things, Kon."

Kon breathed out through his nose, trying to calm down. "I don't like it. I didn't ask for it. It wouldn't be so bad if Clark didn't. Didn't act like I had, like all of his problems are my fault."

"I understand." Thad nodded. "I might be on the wrong side of that one, but I understand."

Kon just rubs his face. "I. I'm sorry, this is just. I just have to ignore it. Like always. Doesn't matter."

"But it does matter, you need to talk to Luthor about it. It's bothering you and you need to get the dream out, and he can."

"He won't. He talks to me all the time, trying to be a good dad or whatever. Its creepy and he really doesn't care, even if he's better at this than Clark is."

"Then let me or Tim or someone get to Luthorcorp, get your files, and understand what he did."

Kon blinks a little. "Cadmus. I. They'd be in Cadmus. But the old place- the one they kept all experiment files in- it burned down. Two years ago."

"There's always more files, Kon. This man works with Bruce Wayne."

Kon shook his head. "The originals were destroyed when I broke out, I. I was angry, I took it out on the building. And the backups were destroyed in the fire."

"Well, I'm sure the files still exist and that you can still get into them fine."

Kon shook his head. "I don't think so. But, it really doesn't matter. I'm fine."


End file.
